The Indian Constitution was framed amid a challenging environment, with the people involved in the drafting process facing a tall order — accounting for the diverse conditions and aspirations of a soon-to-be-independent nation.What further complicated the task was the fact that a select group of rather elite people were representing a largely illiterate population, spanning different religious, regional and cultural backgrounds.Members of the assembly derived their legitimacy from a scheme laid down by the 1946 Cabinet Mission plan. In total, 292 members were elected through the Provincial Legislative Assemblies; 93 members represented the Indian Princely States, and four members represented the Chief Commissioners’ Provinces.However, by June 1947, the Mountbatten Plan led to the formation of a separate Constituent Assembly for Pakistan and the final tally for the Indian Constituent Assembly was reduced to 299. It took them two years, 11 months, and 17 days to draft the Constitution of India. Here are some notable incidents that happened on December 9, 1946, when the assembly first convened.Greetings from the US, China and AustraliaMembers arrived in Constitution Hall, now known as the Samvidhan Sadan of the Old Parliament House in New Delhi. The Parliament’s website notes, “Decorated elegantly for the occasion, the Chamber wore a new look on that day with a constellation of bright lamps hanging from the high ceilings and also from the brackets on its walls. Overwhelmed and jubilant as they were, the hon’ble members sat in semi-circular rows facing the Presidential dias.”Leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr BR Ambedkar, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Acharya JB Kripalani, Dr Rajendra Prasad and Sarojini Naidu were seated in the front row. In the galleries above the floor of the Chamber sat the press representatives and other visitors.The inaugural session began at 11 am, with the introduction of Dr Sachchidananda Sinha as the temporary Chairman of the Assembly. A lawyer and former Congress member from Bihar, he was the senior most member of the gathering.Story continues below this ad Sachchidanand Sinha was a veteran member of the legislature. (Wikimedia Commons)He began by reading out congratulatory messages from three countries. The United States government extended its “sincere good wishes… for a successful conclusion of the great task you are about to undertake.” The telegram further said, “India has a great contribution to make to the peace, stability, and cultural advancement of mankind, and your deliberations will be watched with deep interest and hope by freedom loving people throughout the entire world.”Next, China (which was not led by its current Communist regime at the time) extended their heartiest congratulations, saying it sincerely hoped that “your great Assembly will succeed in laying a solid foundation for a democratic and prosperous India.”Explained | Stories of women who helped draft the Constitution of IndiaFinally, the Australian government said that it had watched with “keen interest and sympathy” the events that gave “the people of India their rightful place in the community of nations. The Australian Government, therefore, greets the opening of the Constituent Assembly as an outward sign of a new era for India and offers the delegates of the Constituent Assembly their best wishes for success in their task.”Chairman’s speech, quotes from Iqbal and the BibleIn his inaugural address, Sinha quoted several political theorists, poets and other writers on the subject of what a constitution ought to be, and how India could seek inspiration from other countries.Story continues below this adHe also mentioned a 1936 resolution that the Indian National Congress adopted in Faizpur in December 1936. It said, “The Congress stands for a genuine democratic State in India where political power has been transferred to the people, as a whole, and the Government is under their effective control. Such a State can only come into existence through a Constituent Assembly having the power to determine finally the constitution of the country.”Towards the end of his speech, he wished the assembly members success in their endeavours and invoked “Divine blessings that your proceedings may be marked not only by good sense, public spirit, and genuine patriotism, but also by wisdom, toleration, justice, and fairness to all; and above all with a vision which may restore India to her pristine glory, and give her a place of honour and equality amongst the great nations of the world.”He quoted the poet Iqbal: “Yunan-o-Misr-o-Roma sabmit gaye jahan se, baqi abhi talak hai nam-o-nishan hamara. Kuch bat hai ke hasti mit-ti nahin hamari, sadion raha hai dushman daur-e-zaman hamara.”Sinha also translated the lines, saying, “Greece, Egypt, and Rome, have all disappeared from the surface of the Earth; but the name and fame of India, our country, has survived the ravages of Time and the cataclysms of ages. Surely, surely, there is an eternal element in us which had frustrated all attempts at our obliteration, in spite of the fact that the heavens themselves had rolled and revolved for centuries, and centuries, in a spirit of hostility and enmity towards us.”Story continues below this adHe also asked the assembly to bring to the task “a broad and catholic vision, for as the Bible justly teaches us — ‘Where there is no vision the people perish.’”Then began the formal business, which saw the 207 members in attendance present their credentials to him and sign their names in the official register.